Sexual Assault On Campus

 


      Recently I attended the Social Justice event 'Sexual Assault on Campus" in order to complete my requirement for this class. But what started out as just a simple assignment ended up turning into a major eye opener.
      Sadly although I cannot remember the name of the speaker that day I can tell you she was one in a million. She was a educated woman who had graduated college and began working with the police. But as the time went on I learned she was so much more. She was in a wonderful domestic partnership, she was making decent money, and she was also a victim of sexual assault. From first sight I would never have guessed, she seemed calm and seemed as though she had no worries, but it was through this amazing woman that I learned that sexual assault is everywhere. Even here at RIC.
     She began by asking us certain questions based around rape. She asked if we knew what it was and if we had been effected by it in any way. Once she got a census she began her seminar with the idea of power, and its connection to rape. This idea reminded me of Johnson's "Privilege, Power, and Difference" reading. I say this because as defined by law rape is forcible sexual relations with a person against that person's will. And as described in Johnson's reading people who have power  tend remain in power while the other's whether they be a different race, class, gender, etc. are oppressed. And in the case of rape the attacker has all the control in the situation and sadly the victim's are oppressed.
      Next she went into some of the statistics of sexual assault on campus. Did you know that it is estimated that 1 in every 4 woman who attend college will be sexually assaulted by the time they graduate. And out of those statistics 9 out of every 10 women will know their attacker.(http://www.nsvrc.org/saam/campus-resource-list) With these statistics came a sad story. Out of the audience a young woman stood up and shared her story of how she herself had been a victim of rape. And instead of being arrested and thrown out of college, the young man who committed the crime was allowed to continue attending college and was even allowed to be in the same classes as her. While she was sharing this horrific story I kept thinking of the "Amazing Grace" reading by Kozol. Just like what happened to the people in the reading, the young woman was viewed as powerless and the institution continued to oppress her by not properly dealing with the situation, and in the end causing her to suffer. After doing some research I found a similar situation that occurred at another institution. Like the young lady described earlier Margaux J. a student at Indiana University was forced to deal with the fact that her college "not only harbors rapists, but also disregards, ignores and fails women." when her attacker was allowed to continue attending the college.(http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Few-consequences-for-students-accused-of-rape-3198253.php)(http://www.publicintegrity.org/2010/02/24/4361/sexual-assault-campus-margaux-j-interview-part-i-0) (http://www.publicintegrity.org/2010/02/24/4361/sexual-assault-campus-margaux-j-interview-part-i-0)
     And finally this presentation reminded me of one last reading and that was "SCWAMP" by Lesley Grinner. I made the connection to this reading by discovering that it is because of the way our society values things such as gender, religion and other things that these victims are forced to live a life of oppression.
     And it is through this seminar and through the readings that I have learned of the fallacies victims of sexual assault are forced to face. Through oppression and views of society these victims go are faced with nothing but an uphill battle while sadly their aggressors walk free.